Hunted
by whateverimaprincess
Summary: She never really trusted people in the first place. Now that they were trying to eat her gave her even more reason to. But even in this world, there has to be those she trusts, no matter how unlikely they are. Daryl/OC happens gradually.
1. Chapter 1

Several days had past since I last saw a person. A _living _person.

It wasn't exactly comforting to know that the closest thing that resembled being anything _near_ a person was the one that was currently banging at the door to my once safe hideout. It was hungry, and I wasn't sure how long that door was going to provide a barrier between me and the _thing_.

I calmly checked my pistol, my reliable Python, to see how many bullets I had left. _Would it be smarter to shoot it or myself?_

Three in the chamber. I had maybe five or six in my pocket, and a box of them lay in a pocket off the side of my bag. I could open the door and wait behind it until the thing staggered in, possibly taking it out with my knife if it was just him. If there were more than three, I'd either shoot them, or give them something to eat. I mean, I had to face it, things were looking bleak for me ever since I left _them _and decided I would go on by myself. I was better off that way. I work better alone. But the fact that I always had to sleep with one eye open and watch my own back wore me down. I had to make short runs, quickly in, quickly out. Small loads only. Since I was only one person, I didn't need a big amount of supplies, but constantly running back and forth had it's affect on a girl. It had me wondering why I was even _trying_ anymore.

Suddenly, the banging stopped and I was left with the brief silence, curled up in the corner of the room, until a shriek ripped through the house and broke the moment of serenity. _This was my chance_. I gathered up, quickly and quietly, and opened the annoyingly creaky door. I paused and silenced any breath, hoping that the shape of the old cottage hadn't attracted any attention to my visitor. It hadn't of course, because the sobbing and screaming still echoed down the hall. _I had to go that way to get out. _With a long exhale and stepped out of the room and in to the darkened corridor, chopping axe in hand. I wouldn't have minded that the _assumed_ alive person was here, it was the constant screams that seemed to dart around the room ahead of me that annoyed me. Though, I had to admit, it helped a considerable amount as it distracted any monster from my own presence. But as I rounded the corner, a good four step towards the door, towards _safety_, the shrieking hitched and a voice called out.

"Help me!" it cried. It was small and terrified and I knew if I turned around it would mean that my using the poor victim to escape would come to an end. And, stupid me, I did it. My eyes wandered and found the thing clawing up, and at the top of the cabinet was a small girl, no more than twelve years old, her screaming now a pathetic sob as she had found her possible saviour. I considered the scene; the thing hadn't noticed me quite yet, although the girl was staring me down with watery eyes. It'd be terrible if I just left now; I wouldn't be able to live with myself, and as I was already having issues with living with myself, I figured this could drive me over the edge. After quickly sizing up the situation, I took the few short bounds it took to wedge the axe carefully into the back of the monsters skull, then yanking my weapon out and repeating the action a second time just to make sure, and the thing fell to the floor. I'd become immune to the gross crunch that a rotting skull would make long ago, and it seemed that its decaying stench had embedded itself into my nostrils. I almost sighed and turned on my heel to leave before the soft sobs were heard again. Raising my eyes to hers, I could see that she had her face hidden in her hands and worried that the small girl might have been hurt in my hesitation, but I gathered from the fact that I saw no blood that the cried were solely because she was frightened.

"Hey," I whispered, the sound of my own voice startling me. It had been awhile since I had spoken. She continued sobbing nonetheless. I sighed and heaved myself up on to the counter, which the cabinet was set beside; the same way this girl probably got up there in the first place. "Are you hurt?" I asked. A cold question to ask such a scared, young girl, but I had to be sure. After several sniffles and hiccups, she removed her hands from her face to reveal no signs of injury. I smiled softly when she shook her head. "That was a close one. Come on down," I said softly, hoping to relax the young girl. Her eyes tore from mine and moved to the floor, and I had to take a look. _As if I had forgotten that it was there._ "It's dead. Don't worry."

"_Dead_ dead?" she asked sheepishly, in which I chuckled at and nodded. I was surprised when she quickly clambered down and all but jumped into an embrace. Her thin arms were wrapped tightly around me as her head was turned, no doubt, at the dead body on the floor. A soft and terrified "thank you" left her small mouth before she backed away from me. I changed my stance awkwardly, trying not to keep my eyes on her for too long. The girl was so young, so small, yet I had enough insecurities that I had to be awkward around a girl that was over ten years _younger_ than I was.

"Are you hungry?" I asked suddenly, and the prospect of food brightened up her face. The question had been lingering, but I decided I would wait until she was calmed down to ask her. _Why was she out here on her own?_

* * *

_**AN: **__I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT I STARTED A NEW ONE AND I DELETED "CHANCING THE DEAD" AND I REALLY HOPE ANYONE WHO WAS READING IT IS OKAY WITH THAT. Harper kinda died on me. Her character was kinda meh. I had a long story for her, but I kept on hitting a bump that I couldn't get over so I quit. Not to say that this will be any different, but hopefully I can find more character in this one and great a better storyline. A lot of this story will be inspired by Harper's intended one, but like I said, she kinda fell flat._

_I'm going to be doing a lot of weird time switches? What I mean by that, is that certain deaths and certain events will happen sooner or happen later than they did in the show/comic. Yes, this will be a mixture of the two, but a lot settles on the show, like appearances and events. Hope that's okay! If it's not, suck it up. It's a fiction, my friend._

_Like I said, I'm hoping to have a better character in this story. I might take it nice and slow to cover a lot of things about this character, though I hate taking things slow. I'm also gonna be open to more critique on this one. _


	2. Chapter 2

I got sick of them a quickly as we had formed this group. The two brothers were often bickering and I realized why Theresa had left the younger of the two. It wasn't _him_ that was the problem. His brother was always riling him up and getting him mad. When the loud-mouthed brute was out on runs, the quieter brother would relax; he'd lose any interest in shouting or being mad at something and he'd just relish in the brief moments when his older brother wouldn't push him around.

I mean, I grew up with them. They were several years older than me, that's for sure, but I'd been the younger's confident in everything as we grew up. Of course, as I was younger and actually _focused_ on school, we drifted. I went to Los Angeles and I didn't hear from them until I was back in Atlanta and our little neighbourhood was being ransacked by monsters. I was the first they'd contacted purposefully. As a group, I mean. The younger had to come all the way back in to town to "save" his brother, who was locked securely in a jail cell. _Apparently, _the first thing the two agreed on was looking for little ol' me. They were bad on the outside, but if you really got under their skin and _made_ yourself see the good in them, they were just big tough rednecks that cared about the people close to them more than they were willing to admit.

But, though they'd saved me and all that, and though I've known them since the day I learned that jumping in to a deep lake _without knowing how to swim_ lead to a certain younger brother having to swim out and bring me back to shore, I got tired of them. I knew it was safe with them, but at the same time, I _knew_ I could fare on my own. I'd done it for a good three weeks before they came for me at the beginning. So I took my things and left a note on my usual lounging chair that read 'Figured family should stay family. Stay safe.'

* * *

The little girl had passed out on the makeshift bed almost immediately after I cleaned up the remains of canned beans. It was odd, really, to think that such a little girl as out there, by herself, with all the chaos. Even I had a hard time doing it, and I had weapons. The only thing the small child had on her was the doll that almost seemed glued in the hands that clutched the toy so tight.

I didn't expect for her to warm up so fast, though I guess she hadn't completely warmed up. This girl was without company since the start of the outbreak, I assumed. No, that couldn't have been right. A little girl with nothing to protect her would've died quickly in this new world. The way she reacted to the earlier threat told me that much. So why was she alone _now?_ Maybe her group got attacked and she was the only survivor? I remembered seeing a large group of the monsters trudging along a few nights ago. Whether they had anything to do with the girls solitude would have to stay a mystery to me until the morning.

But now I had her. I had a responsibility and I guess I asked for it when I lodged that axe into her attackers head. I could've left her to the dead if I really wanted to, but I was already having it tough already. Maybe I saved her because she reminded me of myself when this all started. Scared and confused and so _helpless_, until my old friends came along. I dealt with it, but I had killed a bare minimum of six monsters - trust me, I counted - and that wouldn't have been something I could just do and hope to live. This world's whole meaning now was killing; whether it be _them_ doing the killing, or _us._ I was back to thinking about how the girl survived without at least one other person. Maybe she was more able than I thought?

The hours of the night drew long, and I had yet to hear any noise from around the house, let alone outside. It was as if all was forgotten and we were camping in this old cabin for the fun of it, and we'd head home in the morning to our families. But that wasn't the case, now. Out there, I knew, were those _things, _their only existence to be the terrorizing threats made of people that lived in a world that used to be ours. It really spooked me how these people used to actually _be_ people. I'm willing to bet my money that our high and mighty president had gone down, and possibly every celebrity out there. People that used to _matter_, people that used to have their lives all over the news, were now degraded to surviving among the "lesser" citizens. Either that, or they were now the things trying to eat us. I'd know first hand.

The little girl hadn't moved in awhile, and the sun would be up soon, so I decided I'd at least try and get some shut eye for an hour or so. It was a little comforting to know I had someone with me. I hadn't had human contact for ages, and the fact that there was a living being that _wasn't _trying to eat me was a little strange, but it calmed me. Even just to know that there was another person out there and not just me surviving all alone in what had become of this world. Even the prospect of her having a group had my mood up.

There was a commotion outside, just in front of the cabin, which woke me up. The girl was already startled awake, so I wouldn't have to worry about waking her up if a getaway was needed. I only had to look at her and press my finger to my lips and she nodded slightly, though it could've just been a result of her entire body shaking. I quietly crawled over to the window and raised myself slightly, moving the curtains slowly so I could peek out. I scanned the area and was greeted by quite the sight. What I'd been expecting was just a few of the dead banging at the door to the right, but what I was surprised with was a large group of men, some trying to break down our strongly barricaded door. I threw myself down and out of sight, then looked to the girl and nodded to the window. She got up quickly and fumbled with the lock, but managed to slide it open, then looked back to me with a frantic look in her eye. I was already stuffing whatever supplies we had into my bag, then I helped her out the first story window and handed her the bag. I took one last peek out the other window, then rushed out the back.

We made sure we couldn't hear or see the cabin anymore, and then we rested. She had a lot more energy than I did, that was for sure. She took to hiding behind the tree I was leaning on as I caught my breath. I scouted the area quickly to make sure none of the dead were going to sneak up on us, then exhale loudly.

"You okay?" I asked, and I saw her little head bob. "That was the biggest group I've seen since the outbreak..." I sighed, mostly to myself. That reminded me. "Hey...were you all alone out here before you found me?" She thought for a few seconds, then in a flash she was sobbing and calling for her mom.

"I have to find Momma! I have to!" she cried, and I just looked around the area, making sure she wasn't attracting any unwanted attention. I tried shushing her but she just kept crying, so I put my hand on the top of her head and smiled down at her.

"Hey, we can find your Momma, okay?" I nodded, and that seemed to get her to quiet down, but she was still hiccuping and sniffling. "I'm Salem, by the way."

She looked up at me and let out a quiet sob, then nodded. "I'm Sophia," she said quietly, and I frowned. I recalled seeing that name somewhere, but I had a hard time remembering. After awhile she finally composed herself and looked back up at me. "Can we really go look for her?" she asked, and I smiled.

"I guess we could. Don't wanna keep your family missing you, right?" I nodded. The grin that broke through her tear stained face seemed to brighten the entire day. "Okay, where were they when you last saw 'em?" I asked, and she chewed her lip.

"Carl's dad left me in a little creek. There was a tree that was growing off the bank and he told me to hide but..." she trailed off and ran her arm across her eyes. "It was by a highway. A bunch of walkers came through and I ran away because they started chasing me." I nodded, then clued into where I'd seen her name.

"Sophia, did your family have a big RV?" I asked, and her eyes widened, which told me I was right.

"Yes, yes! That's Dale's RV! Did you see them? Where'd you see them? Where-" I cut her off with a hand when I heard a twig snap. One of the dead stumbled from behind the tree next to ours, excited at the sight of food. I took out my long knife and Sophia ducked in to a bush. I flipped my knife so I could get a good angled swing, then drove the knife into the fat woman's forehead. I kicked it away with enough force to rip my knife out, then wiped the blood on my pants. Sophia slowly crawled out from behind the bush and I smiled at her.

"Let's walk and talk, okay?" I suggested, and she nodded enthusiastically. To my surprise, she grabbed my hand, and we walked in silence for a few moments. "I was walking down that highway a few days ago. I saw a small group of people put some stuff on a car."

"How many? What did they look like?" She asked quickly. I smiled at her excitement. Just the fact that I possibly saw her people got her mood up so high that it rubbed off on my permanent bad mood.

"I think three. I only saw one briefly, and there was a guy with a fishing hat, he looked older. Then a lady with short hair-"

"That's my Momma!" she practically screamed. I shushed her quietly and spun my head to see if anyone heard. We were still save, so we kept walking.

"They drove off without noticing me, but they had made a sign for you with some supplies. I was gonna take the supplies, but I figured if they'd left the supplies there, then you'd need 'em," I spoke quietly, and he nodded.

"So, they're not at the highway anymore..." she said, almost too quietly for me to hear. I squeezed her hand, and she looked up at me with a smile. "Let's go to the highway and get those supplies." I was expecting her will to be crushed after I told her that her family left, but she seemed even more determined to go after her mom.

* * *

_**AN: **Wow I was actually surprised that the last chapter got a review, thanks!_

_I don't know, there's a lot of inspiration from other stories I've read, some outside of the Walking Dead and even fanfics all together, but let me know if this seems too much like something else you've read or whatever._

_Also, yay Sophia isn't dead! And who the hell was at the cabin!? I don't even know yet! I'm gonna figure that out right now!_


	3. Chapter 3

"I think I ran further than I thought I did," she called. I had climbed up a small hill to try and get our bearings as to where we were, and she was safely tucked away in the tent. "Maybe it's the other way?" she suggested. I shook my head and let out a long breath.

"No, no, the highway was to the North, we're going the right way. I just don't know how far it's gonna be," I said, loud enough for her to hear me down the hill. "It'd sure help if we had a map." We'd been walking for a good week and a half. The entire time we was filled with hiking and disappointment. Every time we thought we saw the highway, it was just an old driveway or a path. Sophia and I had been following a reasonably worn path, hoping it would take us to the highway or some kind of landmark, for the past three days. So far; no luck.

"Should we start looking for a town? Maybe they went looking for supplies, maybe that's why only three of 'em were there," she said softly as I slid myself down the hill. I put my hands in my pockets and shrugged. "We were running low on food, maybe they went looking for food."

"I don't know, Sophia. The possibilities are endless," I murmured. "How many people are in your group, anyways?" I had never thought to ask, though it was a good question. Then, if we saw a group of people, I had a rough idea of if it was them or not.

"Umm," she tilted her head and thought for a few moments. She had to hold up her hands to count on her fingers, and I had to wonder how large her group actually was. "Eleven, including me," she said finally. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Her group was even bigger than the one that was outside of the cabin, which was probably about six or seven men. Big group for what I'm used to, but Sophia had ten other people waiting for her to get back to them.

"Jeez," I breathed, then looked around the immediate area. It was starting to get dark, the warm summer day chilling quickly. "Why don't we get some rest, huh? Get up early and keep heading North, what'ya say?" I asked before turning to the tent, only to see she was already curled up on her side of the tent. I smiled softly at her then quietly crawled it, zipping the tent shut as silently as possible. Because the tent wasn't as safe as the cabin once was, I actually had to stay up. Sophia would wake up about three hours before it was time to leave and she'd sit right next to me so I could get at least a little rest. I was used to running on three days with no sleep, but it was nice to have even a small amount of sleep with her around. She'd wake me up if anything were to attack us, anyways.

* * *

Jen, my aunt, once married a guy that believed in this stuff. Fernando was his name. He was a nice guy, really, I liked him when I was younger. But he always had this obsession with "The End" and survival tactics for when the apocalypse came. I thought he was cool, but then again I was thirteen and actually believed in anything that I heard. Jen ended up divorcing him after three years, said that he was too crazy to keep up with.

Auntie Jen was the first of the dead things I ever saw. Uncle Fernando was last seen buying half the grocery store and hiding back in his house, where he probably had a bunker or something crazy like that. I'd bet all my money that he was still alive back home.

* * *

"They're gonna like you," Sophia said suddenly. We'd been walking most of the day and we _finally_ saw what hinted to the highway, or even a road. I stared down at her with my eye brows raised.

"And what makes you so sure?" I smiled. I hadn't really thought about what I'd do after we found her group. I'd probably go off again after getting whatever thanks they gave me. It was scary, but I really preferred being alone. I didn't have to watch anyone back, I didn't have responsibilities. I had problems with people and I always had. Hell, before I met this girl, I was pretty much set on killing myself. If it weren't for her screaming, I would've gone through with it, too. So, I guess being with people helps. But I didn't like it much.

"You're nice. Momma won't let ya go, either. Momma's a nice person. So are the Grimes'. is the leader, so he'll definitely like you," she nodded. She sounded so sure of herself in her naivety that it made me smile. She started talking about her friend, Carl, who was in the group. He was the leader's son, and the only other child in the group. "Why are you all alone, Salem?" she asked after a long silence. I blinked at the horizon and sighed.

"I don't know," I said. The thing was, I didn't know. Like I'd said earlier, it was easier. I've had trust issues ever since I was twelve, and it's carried with me all the way into the apocalypse. I guess I had a reason before, but now it was just so easy for those people that I one mistrusted to come up behind me and use me as a meal. The people I trusted the most were the brothers, and even then I had to watch my back around the older one. I realized I was lost in thought, then smiled down at her. "It's easier. You don't need to carry around as much food. You can hide easier. It's just easier," I sighed. She let this roll around in her mind for a few moments before speaking.

"I think it's scary," she said bluntly. "With all these dead people everywhere, I think we need to keep the living ones even closer. Y'know? You never know how long it'll take for them to all go away, too." That kinda hit me, I guess. I had this little girl telling me this, and I had been running around by myself for maybe two, three months? She was alone for a good few nights with no protection, and she believed this. Maybe that's what made her want to go after her mom so much. We walked in silence for a few hours before she gasped. "That's the creek! We're close, Salem!" she shouted, her face lighting up like it was Christmas morning. She started to run ahead, but I caught her by the shoulder and pulled her behind a tree. She'd attracted the attention of a few of the dead that were wading in the water. One seemed to be stuck in the mud, but was stretching towards us to get free. There were two others, who were now a few meters away from us.

"Stay here," I said as I pulled out my knife. She nodded and held on tight to the little doll and backed behind a bush. The first guy was easy to take down, he pretty much gave himself up right in front of me. The woman was more difficult, though. She tripped right before I could swing at her and she knocked me down, my head hitting something hard. My vision was blurry and everything was fuzzy, but I was able to push her up with my forearm, though my knife was knocked away when I fell. I looked around quickly for anything that was in reach before it was too late and I left Sophia alone, _again_. I was about to reach for a nearby rock when the sharp end of a blade burst through the center of it's forehead and left the woman limp, and me with wide eyes. I shoved the body off me and looked up to see a shaken girl with blood on her hands. "Jesus, Sophia," I breathed, and she hugged me tight.

"You're bleeding," she said with a sob, staring at my forehead. I reached up to touch the area that was now throbbing, and looked at my hand to see that I was, in fact, bleeding. I sighed and shrugged, giving Sophia a little smile.

"At least it isn't a bite, huh?" I asked, and she nodded quickly. I looked up at the sky, and the day promised us another good four hours of daylight. "Thank you," I nodded, then lifted myself up. I was very light-headed, but I managed, and I found some bandages in my bag to keep the cut from getting infected. "So, the highway's around here?" I asked, and she nodded quickly again.

" said that when I wanted to go back that I keep the sun on my left shoulder," she said, then looked up to where the sun was currently lowering. "Do we have enough time, do you think?" I looked around the area and started to nod slowly, then hitched by bag up on my back. "I didn't run too far before he found me. It should be here somewhere," she smiled, then grabbed my hand. I yanked my knife out of the dead's head, which Sophia had used to save me.

"Is that the first one you've killed?" I asked after a long time. She was silent at first, then nodded. "You were very brave. Thanks again."

"It's the least I can do, I guess," she started, and I looked down at her. She gave me this huge grin and squeezed my hand. "You saved me, too. Now we're even," she added, and I just laughed. We walked in silence for a good hour, and then she started pointing out familiar things, like a tree that she'd almost run into, or a rock she had to climb over. This gave me lots of hope, and it really made me happy to see her so happy. "I see it!" she gasped, pointing to where the land banked upwards slightly, topped by a barricade. She knew her family wasn't going to be there, yet she was just so ecstatic that it seemed as though they were. She dragged me up the small hill, and we slowly peeked over the barricade. It was clear, so I went over first. She knew exactly where she was now, and she kept running around cars to see exactly where they were. I stayed close to her, but not without keeping a wary eye out. This place was a graveyard for supplies, and anyone could be around here looting. Or looking for dinner. She stopped by a little car with a sign in the windshield and supplies laying on the hood.

"If this is still here, I guess no one really comes through," I commented as she just looked at the car. I looked down at her and noticed little tears escaping from her eyes, but she made no sound. I put my hand on her shoulder and sighed. "Let's get these things in the bag and find somewhere to sleep, alright?" She nodded and, without a word, grabbed anything she could reach and put it in my bag. I sighed as I looked at the sign.

_Sophia, stay here, we'll be back every day._

That was probably about two weeks ago that they wrote that. I had to wonder if they really were going to come back everyday for her, or if they'd given up. With a final huff, I took the Sharpie that was left on the hood of the car and reached across.

_She's safe. Go to the nearest town. We'll be there._

She gave me a curious look after I capped the lid. "It's not exactly safe to stay here. A bunch of the monsters came through here before, they might do it again. Plus, survivors would love to come through here. Don't wanna run into the wrong crowd," I explained, though it seemed like I was trying to convince my_self_ that that was the better plan. She seemed to think about it for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "We can stay for the night, but in the morning we gotta go, okay?" She nodded again and I smiled. "C'mon, let's get the tent set up."

* * *

_**AN: **__I'm not sure if this is a filler or not, ahg. I wanted them to find the highway but not this soon but y'know. I didn't have much to put in between that so yeah. Let me know if you think I'm rushing or not, I seriously wrote this in like an hour because I have nothing to do and I'm bored. Expect more to be uploaded today._


	4. Chapter 4

The day started early mainly because we were woken up by two or three of the dead groaning by us. It was a wonder how they hadn't noticed the tent in the middle of the road, but maybe the whole place stunk so much like themselves that they couldn't tell we were there. We waited for the death groans to be long gone, then packed up quickly. I double checked the sign, then looked down the opposite way to make sure no one was going to come and look for Sophia, then we set off. We went in the same direction that the traffic was supposed to be moving; Sophia said that was the way her people were going before they were separated.

"You think there's a town this way?" I asked. She paused in the middle of humming her song to look at me and shrug. I sighed and pulled out the map and called her over to a car. I spread out the piece of paper and scanned it over. "Look, there's a town ri-"

"Look!" she gasped, her little finger pointing to a circle on the map. It had been marked by the same Sharpie, it seemed, as the sign. "That's where they are! That's-" I cut her off with a shush, and looked down the road. The sound of two men laughing came towards us, and I nodded for her to get in the car. She did as she was told and I rolled up the map as quickly as possible to join her in the back seat. We weren't alone, however. There was a body in the front seat, though a bullet hole was sat neatly in the middle of it's forehead, meaning that this particular person _wasn't_ coming back.

"...I'm sure Christina meant nothin' of it, man, she's emotional," one of the voices said. Sophia was frowning, possibly trying to pick out if that was a voice from her group.

"Well she ain't gonna go runnin' her mouth no more, huh?" another voice said, and the men erupted with laughter again. "Nate taught her a lesson though, I reckon. Goes fer all them no-good-"

"Sam, shut up a sec, will ya?" the other voice cut in. I held my breath and looked at the small girl trembling beside me. She shook her head, and I knew she meant it wasn't her group. The men were probably about three or four cars down from ours, and they had fallen silent. A groan told me the noise the man heard was one of the dead and I let out a sigh of relief. Sophia was watching me, probably to react as fast as possible if I gave her a silent warning. "Damn things are everywhere, why are we here?"

"I'unno, man, Sean told us to scavenge whatever's left here n' go," the other voice said. "He said there was a sign las' time he came here, someone lookin' for a Sophie or somethin'." The two of us tensed up with the mention of the sign and I became even more weary. "Said people were gon' come back here."

"We should wait around if we find the sign, see if they got a camp." The tone of his voice was something I didn't like at all and it sent shivers down my back. "He say where it was?"

"By a water truck or somethin', I'unno." I held my breath again and Sophia squeezed my hand as we saw their figures pass right by our hiding spot. They stopped right beside us.

"You kiddin'?" the other voice shouted. "The fuckin' water truck was two miles back, you idiot!" They squabbled for a good three minutes before they finally set off, back from where they had came from. We sat silently for what seemed like forever, then crawled quickly and quietly out of the car.

"We gotta find them and tell them that there's people waiting for them," Sophia said quietly. Though she was young, she had sensed something was wrong, too. I nodded in agreement, then we took off down the road again.

* * *

"Aw, c'mon Salem, don't be such'a bitch about it," Jasper chuckled. I rolled my eyes and shrugged my jacket back on. "Seriously?"

"Jas, I'm all for keeping you company, but you're a fuckin' perv when you're drunk," I said as I stood in the doorway. He just watched me with disbelief in his eyes and a highball in his hand.

"Salem, baby, sit down," he sighed, gesturing to a chair in the corner of his hotel room. I rolled my eyes and obliged. "I'm kiddin', anyways. I need'a talk to you 'bout something." I wanted to punch his damn Brooklyn accent down his throat. I used to think it was cute, but the fact I had spent every day with him for the past three weeks was starting to drive me over the edge. "Ya remember that chick from Texas? The one that almost had the show ruined?" I didn't answer, but he knew I knew what he was talking about. "Okay, so, I'm over visitin' her and her agent last night, right? And the babe-"

"-Nelly," I sighed. He had a way of forgetting names or just referring to girls as "babe" or "the chick" or whatever.

"Yeah, okay, Nelly, whatever. She went all loopy, came down with this fever after they came back from the photo shoot. She wasn't feelin' so hot so she went in the bathroom and I guess passed out." I waited patiently for him to get to the point. It's what I hated most about Jasper. He would drag a two minute story on for hours. "So, she's in there for awhile, 'nd Albert gets all worried and goes to check on her 'n all, and she's fuckin' dead on the floor with all the diamond jewelry still on from the shoot and all," he said, and I was finally interested. Usually Jasper's stories were pointless, especially when he was drunk. "So, he's freakin' out and all this and I'm try'na call 9-1-1, she don't have a pulse and he's checkin' her over when she wakes up and takes a big ol' bit outta his arm!" I frowned at this and tilted my head. "And it wasn't even self defense, it was like she was tryin' to _eat_ him and she wouldn't_ stop._" He stopped and thought for awhile.

"So?" I asked. I was finally interested and he chose _then_ to stop talking.

"Salem, I want you to go home. Not _home_, but back to Atlanta. Somethin' weird's goin' on and I think it's best you go 'nd be with your family, alright?" he said suddenly, without looking at me. I frowned at him, and he looked up and gave me his big Jasper-esque grin. "Trust me. You deserve the break."

That was the last time I'd ever see Jasper. He went to the hospital the next day with the same fever Nelly had, and they said they found a huge bite mark on his waist. Of course, I was already on the plane back home because the idiot _insisted _on me leaving that day, so I couldn't go and see him. He died that day, too. His sister texted me right before it was shown on the news, along with Albert and Nelly's death. I felt bad, I really did. But something told me Jasper was right to send me home to Atlanta. He's always right with his hunches.

* * *

We walked for two days. One day down the highway, and another going down the wrong road. It should've taken us no more than a day, but the fact that there seemed to be bigger and bigger groups of the dead - _walkers_, as Sophia called them - slowed us down. We had to keep hiding and setting up camp in the middle of the forest and getting lost. I was a skilled tracker, I grew up in the goddamn mountains of Georgia, but between keeping and eye out for the dead and watching out for Sophia and looking to see if we could find the vaguest area that matched the circle on the map, I kept getting mixed up. But we ended up getting back to the highways, anyways, giving us just enough time of daylight to first find the road we were supposed to be on, and then walk down it long enough to find whatever we were looking for.

"You think we're close?" Sophia's voice asked. It was starting to get really dark, really fast, so we had to hurry if we were at least a little close. "Y'think that's anyone?" she asked quietly, pointing across a large field to a large house.

"Maybe," I said as I squinted my eyes. She squeezed my hand and looked around our area to make sure we were safe. "You see anything familiar?"

"Nuh-uh. Too dark," she sighed. Right then I felt like something wasn't right. I felt like there was something behind us, though before I could spin, a voice spoke.

"Sophia?" the rough voice mumbled. I felt something press against my head and I let out a long sigh. Of course. Sophia turned and I saw a smile burst from her worried face from the corner of my eye. "Your momma's worried sick, sweetheart," the voice said, softer now, but it turned gruff again. "Don't move, alrigh'?" it said. That voice sent something through me that I couldn't place. It was familiar.

"She saved me," Sophia said, and I could hear the desperation in her voice. "Don't hurt her." The object was lowered from my head after a few moments of hesitation, but I was then nudged to turn around, so I did. I wasn't exactly prepared for what was waiting for me. I guess you can't be prepared for anything in this world.

"Salem?"

* * *

**AN:** _YAY COOL THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN. As usual tell me what you think. I seriously have all day to do whatever and I can seriously update this story all day yay__  
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	5. Chapter 5

"Holy shit," the man breathed, and his crossbow lowered completely. I just stared at him with wide eyes, taking in what was happening. Before I knew it, I had propelled myself forward the few steps that were between us and I was hugging him tightly around the neck. I was kind of surprised when one arm squeezed me around the waist, and I pulled back to look at my old friend. "I thought you would'a been dead by now," he chuckled, and I sent him a deserved glare. "How ya find her?"

"I was out in a cabin, in the middle of the forest, she was being chased by a thi-"

"-Salem saved my life, Daryl," Sophia repeated, and he looked down at her. She smiled up at him, then gave me a huge grin. "Is Momma okay?" That's when Daryl's expression dropped. Oh God. Sophia didn't seem to pick up his change in face, which made me realize that I'd grown used to picking up the smallest changes in expression on his face. He seemed to recover slightly, though, when she tugged on my hand to pull me towards the large house. "C'mon I want you to meet my Momma!" I looked back to Daryl, who had _that_ look, and I swallowed hard. He followed us though, Sophia pulling me along quickly. My eyes had grown used to the dark, now, and I could make out the RV parked in front of a grove of trees, several other vehicles and tents scattered about in front of your typical farmhouse. There was movement around the camp, first from the top of the RV. Light was shone towards us, which I concluded was a flashlight, and Daryl raised his crossbow up as a sign it was him. The person at the top of the RV scurried down, and more people seemed to form out of the shadows. Sophia was right; this was a big group.

"Stay with Salem, Sophia. I gotta talk to Rick," he nodded, then gave me a look. I nodded quickly and tightened my grip on Sophia's hand as he walked ahead of us. A woman with brunette hair came out of nowhere and hugged the girl, and Sophia's hand slid out from mine. I smiled down at the reunion. _But that's not her mom._ I remembered Sophia saying her mom had short hair. I looked over to where Daryl had walked off to. He was talking to a very tired looking man over on the side of camp, and then more and more people started to fuss over their newly found member. I took a few steps back and I knew this would probably be my only chance to leave. Only, before I could get even five steps away from the reunion, a small voice called out to me.

"Salem, come say hi!" Sophia smiled, and I let out a sigh. She rushed over to me and pulled me towards her people. "Salem saved my life and brought me back!" she announced to the group, which Daryl and the other man - I figured it was Rick - had joined. The earlier brunette woman smiled at me and have me a hug, which _really_ surprised me. I was greeted with so many thanks that it was overwhelming.

"Salem?" Daryl called, and he gestured for me to stand by him, though I didn't want to hear what he was going to tell me. We kind of backed away from the group and I watched the little girl laugh and hug everyone. A little boy about her age had just recently run out of a tent and their reunion was something to see. "Carol isn't..." he started, then waited until I finally looked back to him. "Her mom, she got bit," he said, and I almost physically cringed at the words. I knew it as soon as Sophia had asked to see her. "She's in the house, but she ain't gonna last much longer."

"I'll take Sophia in to see her the-"

"No. She can't see her momma like that," he sighed, looking back to the group. Rick was starting to make his way over to us. "We can just tell her she was, y'know..."

"Daryl, she needs to see her. Her mom needs to see her before she dies," I said quietly. He just nodded slowly, then looked up to the man who had now joined us.

"So, you're the hero, huh?" he smiled, and I chuckled a bit. "I'm Rick." I shook his hand and introduced myself. He definitely had a sense of power to him. "You told her about Carol?" he asked the man in front of me, and got a nod in reply. Rick nodded and sighed, then turned to look at the group again. "Daryl she has to see her," he mumbled.

"Sophia ain't gonna wanna see her like that, Rick," Daryl argued, but the argument was already won. Daryl wasn't much for arguments, especially with his brother. I made a mental note of asking him about the older one later. "Carol'll wanna meet ya," he said quietly after awhile. Rick had gone to retrieve the small girl, who followed him immediately.

Inside we were greeted by an older man and what seemed to be his family. Though I assumed these people were not part of Sophia's group, they thanked me for her return anyways, as they lead us towards a room off to the side. A frail woman lay in the bed, looking like she was getting paler and paler by the second. She had short hair, and she was definitely the woman I saw from afar. Daryl was the first to walk in, and kinda squeezed her shoulder her to wake her up. She looked up at the man with a very tired smile, and automatically took his hand. Daryl tensed a bit at the action, yet he sat on the bed. Seemed like he had found a friend in all this.

"Carol, we have someone y-" Rick started.

"Momma!" Sophia all but screamed as she burst through the small crowd at the door. Carol started crying in a split second, whispering her name into the little girl's hair over and over again as she squeezed her. Daryl got off the bed to give them room, and we watched in silence as the two cried and laughed together.

"Salem here found her. Saved her life," Rick said as he put a hand on my shoulder. I tensed at the touch, but managed to smile at the mother.

"Thank you," her weak voice said as she nodded. "Thank you so much." I nodded and smiled awkwardly. Daryl noticed my discomfort and ruffled my hair to get my attention. He smiled a bit and left the room right before Rick announced that we should let the family do what they needed to do.

"How'd it happen?" I asked quietly once we got on the front porch. Daryl was leaned over the railing, so I joined him, hoisting myself up on the wood. He let out a long sigh and shrugged.

"My fault. She wanted to come look for Sophia with me. I let my guard down, she got bit," he explained. I put my hand on his shoulder and shook my head.

"Not your fault, Daryl," I smiled, but he shook his head. We stood in silence for a few minutes before I started a new conversation. "Where's the shit disturber?" He knew exactly what I meant and he let out a long sigh through his nose. "Sorry. Should'a asked."

"Naw, he's alive," he sighed, "Jus'...it's a long story." He wasn't one for telling long stories, and if he didn't want to tell someone something, he'd make sure they didn't ask about it again. We were silent for a long time again and I was about to ask where I could set up my tent when a booming voice came out from nowhere.

"Where is she, Rick?" it shouted. I didn't quite gather what was happening until I had a gun pointed in my face by an angry bald guy. "We gonna let her in to the group just like that, man?"

"Shane, she saved Sophi-" Rick tried to argue, but the man kept freaking out.

"How do you know she ain't one of _them_, huh? Randal coulda-"

"Ya better get that gun outta her face or there'll be an arrow in yours," Daryl's voice growled from beside me. I was paying such close attention to not getting shot that I hadn't noticed my friend had raised his trusty crossbow to the other man's head. There was a long silence before the Shane guy obliged, giving Rick a meaningful look, then storming off. I let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding, then slid off the railing. Daryl's glare followed the man until he wasn't in sight, Rick chasing after him.

"Thanks," I mumbled, getting his attention back to me. He looked at me with a glare in his eyes, but it softened in a second. He shrugged and smiled a bit before nodding.

"Best get ya tent set up, we get up early," he said before walking past me. I nodded and looked around, trying to find someone to ask _where_ I should set up. Everyone had dispersed back to their tents, other than the brunette woman, who was walking towards me now. She smiled as she climbed the stairs, and I returned it.

"Sorry about Shane, he..." she trailed of, looking across the camp. "He's good at heart. I'm Lori, by the way." I smiled and shook her hand. "Rick says you and Daryl know each other?"

"Grew up with him and Merle. They're like family to me," I nodded, and she smiled. Everyone in this camp seemed reasonably nice, save for Shane. I wasn't sure if it were for the fact that I brought them back a little girl, but they treated me nicely so far.

"Are you hungry? You missed dinner by a little bit, but I'm sure we have something laying around for you," she said suddenly. My eyes widened at the offer of food and I nodded, maybe too enthusiastically. She laughed a bit and told me to follow her, so I did. I figured I had to get used to the camp, _if_ they allowed me to stay, so I paid close attention to my surroundings as we walked to what looked like the middle of camp. "Glenn, do we have anything small for Salem?" Lori asked, and a figure straightened up from poking the fire. He was young, probably not much younger than I was, and sported a baseball cap.

"Uhh, probably, hold on," he mumbled, then moved to sort through a bag behind him. "Is...cream corn okay?" I nodded and he tossed it to me, then a can opener, and I sat down on one of the chairs.

"You can set up your tent beside that blue one, if you have one. That's mine and Rick's," Lori smiled, resting a hand on my shoulder. I thanked her, then she left me to silence between the kid and I.

* * *

I'd been huddled up in my house for two weeks when I met my first survivors; a mother and her girl. They showed up in the least convenient time, too. Somehow, the back door of my house had come un-barricaded, and there were four of the things running in for a meal. I'd only killed one before that, and that was completely by fluke. I almost had it, too, when two fell on me, one dead, and one alive. I struggled and pretty well gave up, when a baseball bat swung out of nowhere and knocked the live ones head clean off.

"You're Dustin's sister," was the first thing she said to me. I wasn't surprised that she knew him. Lots of people in our town did. I mean, lots of people in _America_ did. Dustin was an actor. Not well known, but if you brought up his name, you'd think you had heard it somewhere before. He was that kind of famous.

"You're Jeof's wife," I replied as she helped me up. She smiled sadly, then turned to whistle. Her daughter, who I babysitted before, shied around the corner of the house and shut the door behind her. They helped me push the couch back against it and lock it up before I offered then some food.

"Lucky you can keep ya own home, huh?" the woman chuckled. Rosa was a very plump woman, very loud and strong. If I hadn't known she was married to Jeof and had a daughter with him, I coulda _swore_ she'd be a man or something. I'm not saying she wasn't pretty, she definitely was. She was just masculine. I chuckled and poured coffee into a mug for her. "_And_ your power."

"Dad was always a strong believer in using the generator during power outages. I guess this'd be a good time t'use it, hey?" I smiled, and she took the coffee from me. "You'll have to make due without cream though. I went through that like a madman before I actually realized it'd me limited."

"Ya coulda come to us, we got cows," she shrugged before taking a sip. I chuckled and poured myself my own cup. "Not no more, though," she said sadly, and I saw her daughter shrink in her chair.

"Where's Jeof to anyways?" I asked slowly, probably a bad idea, but I had to. The sad smile she gave me pretty much answered my question, so I shook my head. _Nobody's safe here._

"Would'a thought the Dixons'd be with ya, though," Rosa commented after a few moments of silence. I had pretty much finished my cup of coffee by then and was making a fresh pot.

"Last I heard'a Daryl, he was up with his dad and some guys huntin'. Merle's in jail again," I sighed as I flicked the coffee pot on.

"_Daryl_ with his old man? Thought he hated the brute," she chuckled, "I'd'a thought you'd be the first one on their list to come and save," she said smugly, and I rolled my eyes. "Aw, c'mon, they treat ya like a sister and ya think they wouldn't come see if you were alive?"

"Merle don't even know I'm back from LA. Daryl's way up in the mountains. The Dixons' priority is gettin' Merle outta jail and finding somewhere safe. They ain't gonna come get me," I said as I shook my head.

Rosa and Kylee stayed with me for a week. The back door had opened again _somehow_, and only one came through this time. The guest room was closest to the door, and I woke up to shrieks of terror down the hall. Kylee was screaming her lungs off as the dead thing tore into her stomach, Rosa crying her eyes out. I came up behind the dead guy and lodged my knife deep into his skull, leaving him lifeless, _again_. It wasn't long before poor Rosa had to do the job; she beat her own daughter's face in with her bat to make sure she didn't come back.

The night was long and saddening, and we busied ourselves with dragging Kylee's body to the back and covering her with a sheet as a makeshift grave, then we found planks to hammer across the door. The freaky things was, was that Rosa didn't seemed phased. Her expression was blank as we covered her daughter up, and she offered to take watch so I could get some sleep. Should have had a person on watch from the get go. It was stupid of me to think that it wasn't necessary to look out for them.

I had just fallen asleep when I was woken up, again, but this time by a loud bang. I jolted out of bed and into the living room, where Rosa lay with a pool of blood around her, a bullet hole in her head. I didn't even want to touch her. I was too afraid. Rosa and Kylee had kept me company and made me feel like I was alive again, not just something that breathed and tried to survive. And I was alone, again.

That is, until, loud banging came from the front door. I screamed, then quieted myself quickly, cowering away behind the couch. "Salem?" a voice called, and I tensed. _Could the dead talk, now, too?_ "Salem, it's Merle!" the voice shouted again. I gasped and scurried off the floor, almost tripping on the body that I had all but forgotten about, and unlocked my door. Sure enough, the brothers were standing there, Merle smiling like the cocky asshole he was. He craned his neck around me to see the body. "Guess that's what we heard, huh?" he asked, and I nodded. The brothers looked at each other, and Daryl gave a curt nod. "Go get ya things. You're comin' with us."

* * *

**_AN:_**_ The group's in the story now, yay! I really love Carol, don't get me wrong, I love her to bits, but for the sake of the story, she's gonna have to go. First casualty!_

_Honestly, I'm really surprised you people like this. I kinda thought no one would read it but, here you are, reviewing and all that. It means a lot!_

_The weekend's coming up, which means I'll either post a lot, or post very little. I look forward to elaborating on Salem's past with the Dixons :D_


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up in the early hours of the morning, the peculiar sound of the living surrounding me. They were quiet about it, though I was so used to hearing the groans and sounds of the dead stalking around me, that the noise that normal, working people was odd to me. I had an odd way of when I woke up, I couldn't get back to sleep, be it four in the morning or any other time, so I sat up on my mattress that lay on the floor of my tent, just listening. Distant chatter was heard, and it was almost peaceful to hear several people laughing. I thought back to when I compared this to camping, tuning into the happy tunes that birds chirps in the trees, completely oblivious that the species they's co-existed with for so long had _destroyed the world_ the small animals lived in.

Once I was sure that the people outside weren't going to jump me when I crawled out from the tent, I moved to grab my bag. Though, I found, it wasn't there. Where it once laid by my head, was now a pile of folded laundry. _Figures._ The angry man that was Shane probably insisted on taking my weapons and all that. Quickly coming to terms that he meant well, I changed into the clean clothes, which I noted were mine, then emerged from the tent. Any movement in the camp stopped as eyes fell on me, and I felt the sudden urge to retreat back into my tent. Before I had the chance though, a kind face stepped into view.

"We just finished cooking breakfast, if you're hungry," Lori smiled, and my eyes brightened at the offer. She lead me closer to the middle of camp, where there was a small fire and chairs, where I had sat with the young Asian boy the night before. Now that the sun was up, though, I could make out my surroundings. There was a large amount of tents around said fire, the cozy part of camp cutting off where the RV sat; a convenient wall to feel safe. A rope was tied between two of the many trees that we were situated in the middle of, as a makeshift clothes line. Lots of clothes hung from the line, and I took that Lori (or someone friendly enough to do so) had washed my clothes and set them out for me.

In my observance, everyone seemed to grow even warier of my existence, watching as I took the vacant seat by my old friend. He leaned forward to take the plate that a dark-skinned man held out to him, then passed it to me.

"Ya came at a bad time, Salem," Daryl said quietly. He was leaned back in his chair, picking at the small slice of ham on his plate. If it came from anyone else, I would've taken it as a threat, though it was coming from Daryl, and I took it as a warning. I gave him a look of confusion, and almost as if he was cued, Shane stormed into the group.

"What, we bring her in and feed her when she could be capable of bein' part of Randal's group?" he growled, looking around the group and laying his eyes on me finally. He had a glint in his eye that I couldn't place, but it made me uncomfortable.

"That's a possibility, Shane but we don't know that," Rick said calmly. The other man growled and shook his head.

"So we gotta question her," he shot back.

"Randal said there ain't no women in his group," Daryl sighed, obviously tired of this man's attitude. "Plus, I reckon if they was gonna send anyone after 'im, they'd send someone more..." he paused and looked at me, "intimidating." I sent him a mock glare and he smirked, though the hard stare he was giving Shane returned when the man came closer.

"What makes you think that they sent a less intimidating person to lower our guard an-"

"Guys!" a voice shouted from the porch of the house. Everyone's attention was adverted from Shane and was now set on the short-haired daughter of the farmer. "She's gone." Rick was the first one up, but Lori and Daryl followed closely behind, then along with the rest of the group. Daryl gave me a meaningful glance that told me I should follow, too, though I was unsure. The man on the top of the RV stayed, though said he'd pay his respects later on.

We came into the room to a sobbing little girl, shaking her mother frantically. "Momma, Momma, please!" she cried.

"Sophia, darling," Lori whispered through teary eyes. "Sophia, you need to-"

"No!" the young girl screamed, clinging to her mother. Lori looked back to Rick, but the man only turned and looked to Daryl. I took that he and Carol were close, considering how he had acted towards her last night, and how, when he approached Sophia to pry her away from her paling mother, she complied, though not without final screams to her mother. Daryl sat on the floor in front of her and spoke to her quietly, though looking slightly uncomfortable with having to deal with the upset girl.

"I'll take her out," Lori whimpered, tears staining her cheeks. Daryl nodded to her and stood up, ruffling the hair on the top of the young girls head before the woman lead her out. Rick looked awkwardly around the group, then sighed loudly as he took out his gun.

"Rick," Daryl said quietly, stepping ahead cautiously. The leader looked towards his friend, and with a small nod from both, handed his gun to him. I swallowed hard, then decided I should leave the group to mourn over their fallen friend. Just before I could step out the front door, there was a loud gun shot and I jumped, then stepped through the threshold to get some air.

* * *

"I reckon it was Maury who came through here, hey baby brother?" Merle called over his shoulder. Daryl stayed silent, though he shrugged. We'd stopped by their home, which really wasn't far from mine, to see if there was anything worth taking. "Been after pop's guns since _I_ was born," Merle sad, not really to anyone. Maury was one of those guys that would check out Papa Dixon's collection of hunting knives and guns and would not-so-subtly state that he would _kill_ to get his hands on the hunting family's guns.

"Probably the first thing the asshole did," Daryl growled, looking cautiously around the house. Merle made a noise of agreement then continued to walk down a hallway. I was given the duty of checking to see if any food was left behind, but of course, there hadn't been. I remember having to point my gun at several people that tried looting my _own_ home when this first started. No doubt the empty Dixon home had been broken into and stripped of almost everything that would be useful. As I was rummaging through the cupboards, a few footsteps came up behind me and I was ready to drive a blade into the dead. I span, but was greeted by the younger brother's almost permanent glare. I let out a sigh of relief and turned back around to investigate a box I had found shoved way back behind the pots and pans. I pulled it out and sat it on the counter top, Daryl turning his attention away from one of the cabinets in the living room to see what I'd found. "Aw, shit," I heard him mutter, before he stalked towards me. I looked up with wide eyes, meeting his surprisingly calm ones. His eyes were trained on the box I had pulled out and he was now standing across from me at the island counter. I didn't question him and opened the box, seeing him tense slightly out of the corner of my eye.

"Your mom's jewelry," I whispered. In the box were small glass boxes full of rings and necklaces. When their parents were young and in love, their father spent a lot of money on gifts to her. Her own parents were quite wealthy and would buy or pass down jewelry to her. was a drunk and a terrible chain-smoker, but she was one of the classiest redneck women I knew.

"Only nice things she ever owned, one a' the only things that made it outta the fire," Daryl sighed, watching me examine a necklace I knew was once one of her favourites. "After she died, me n' Merle hid 'em in that box so pop wouldn't sell 'em. He ain't ever gone in that cupboard, figured it was a good spot."

"Ain't a time to get sentimental, brother," Merle's voice said from the direction of the dining room. We both looked up to see him leaning in the doorway, holding a big box in one arm and a bag in the other. "Mom's jewelry ain't the only thing hidden 'round here," he smirked, holding up the familiar bag I remembered to be what their dad kept some guns in.

* * *

I kind of stood in the back of the group as they mourned for Carol. Sophia tugged, surprisingly, on my hand as she sobbed loudly, her other hand occupied by her friend's. Rick spoke for her, stating that she was now with her husband, that she didn't have to live in fear anymore. I felt bad for the little girl beside me; she'd lost both of her parents in this cruel world, her mother dying on the accounts that the young girl was missing. _If we found the farm earlier, maybe Carol would still be alive?_

The day went on quietly, though the normal routine was carried out. I helped Sophia move her things into Rick and Lori's tent, the two having asked her if she'd like to sleep with them now. She quickly obliged and Carl ensured he'd make sure she was okay. Cute kids, they were.

"Salem?" her timid voice asked me as I folded up a blanket. She had paused packing her clothes and was now thumbing at the hem of her doll's dress. I turned and smiled warmly at the girl to let her know I was listening. "Do you think Momma's _really_ in a good place?" she asked softly.

"Of course, Sophia," I nodded, meeting her sad eyes. "She's gonna watch over you just like your dad." To that, she shook her head.

"Poppa didn't go to heaven. He was a bad man," she said bluntly, then continued to pack her bag. I blinked in shock at the young girl and was about to question her when Lori poked her head in. She smiled at Sophia before looking at me and sighing.

"You're wanted inside, dear," she announced, and I rolled my eyes. "Shane _insists_ on questioning your, er...motives. About joining the camp," she, too, rolled her eyes. I chuckled and got up, ruffling Sophia's hair as I passed her. Lori told me she'd help her pack, and I made my way into the farmhouse. I was greeted by a large room filled with mostly everyone in the camp, most I hadn't made contact with yet. We stood in silence for a moment before I finally made eye contact with Daryl and he shrugged.

"I was needed?" I asked slowly, hoping I didn't sound _too_ unhappy about the glares Shane was sending my way. Rick let out a long sigh and nodded, looking to his friend before turned back to me. The room was set up in a way where all the couches and chairs were in a circle around the room. Daryl was leaning on the wall beside the door I had just entered, and since he _was_ the one I trusted most in the group, I stuck close to him. If things went downhill, I at least had a little bit of hope he would stick up for me again.

"I'm gonna get to the point," Rick started, "I..._we_ need to know how you came across Sophia."

"Naw, man, we need to know where she _came_ from, if she's part a' the _group_," Shane cut in. Everyone's attention was still on me, and I wondered if they'd grown used to the man's radical behavior. Rick seemed to be waiting patiently, so I decided to answer his question first. I sighed and leaned against the wall beside my friend.

"Well, I was held up in a cabin for 'bout a week. It'd been pretty secure, didn't have any problems with the dead or anything," I started. "Guess one got in one day and I was trapped in one of the rooms and..." I trailed off, deciding that it was unnecessary for me to add that the thought of killing myself was a favourable choice then. I took a deep breath and continued, "Sophia found the cabin, one thing led to another and I ended up having to off a walker." They seemed to be listening, but I didn't want to bore them with the story of how I found her. "That was about a week and a half...maybe two weeks ago," I shrugged.

"And you were alone?" Rick asked slowly, to which I nodded, resisting the urge to glance over at the one who made the next argument.

"How do we know she tellin' the truth, man?" Shane barked.

"Give it a rest," Daryl grumbled. The other man heard him and was quick to stand from his seat on the couch to stalk across the room, though was stopped by Rick.

"You wanna tell me _why_ you were alone?" Rick asked. The way he said it was careful, though if the same words came out of Shane's mouth, they'd be full of suspicion. Rick was calm about it.

I shrugged to the question, though didn't have the time to form a good answer. "She was with me n' Merle 'bout a week before we joined you guys," Daryl said, then side-glanced me, "She thought family should stay family," he mumbled. I resisted the urge to smile at how he remembered that note. "Salem ain't like them in the other group."

"So we just gonna take it on _his_ good judgement that she's trustworthy? I don't think any one a _Dixon_ finds good company should be trusted," Shane grumbled. Daryl almost pounced on the man, if it weren't for an older man that spoke up then. I had seen him, but didn't know his name. He was mainly seen up on the RV.

"I know this is a jump for you, Shane, but why don't we give her a chance?" he said calmly. He had a kind voice, one that could both calm a child and settle a fight. "I'm not saying to keep a guard on her, but why don't we just _ease_ her in? She _did_ bring back Sophia, remember." At that, there was a strange shift in the air. Everyone in the room seemed to have forgotten that I had actually done them a favour.

"Dale's right," a blonde woman spoke. "I mean, if she were to be part of that group, she wouldn't have saved Sophia. From what Daryl's told us about them, they don't seem the type to save a little girl out of the good of their hearts." The woman could carry herself, that was for sure. She had a confident air about her, and I almost wanted to label her as a lawyer.

Attention was turned back to Rick. He was in thought, staring at the floor in front of him, his jaw tightening. I would've hated to be this man, having to make life and death decisions for both his group and other survivors. He first looked to Shane, who had a scowl on his face that only told me he _knew_ he lost this fight. He then looked to the man beside me, and I saw Daryl nod curtly. With a long sigh the man looked to me. "You can stay, but we'll need to keep an eye on you. At least until we trust you more. You understand that?" he asked. I smiled and nodded, then Rick turned to the farmer. "Herschel, do you have any input? This _is_ your farm."

Instead of answering Rick's question directly, Herschel turned and smiled warmly in my direction. "So long as you don't cause any trouble, my home is open to you ass well, my dear," he said. I thanked him and there was small chatter about things I didn't know about, then we cleared out of the house. I had planned on going right to Sophia, but curiosity got the best of me and I went off to find Daryl. He hadn't gone far, though he was walking towards the edge of camp, so I called after him.

"Shane ain't takin' a liking to you, huh?" he said once I caught up to him. I rolled my eyes and walked beside him, continuing away from camp. "Watch your back around him, alright?"

"He dangerous?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded, but corrected himself with a shrug.

"Lots changed. The man's gone loopy ever since Rick joined the group. Reckon he was screwin' his wife before," he explained. It was probably one of the most confusing things I'd heard, but I nodded along anyways. "He _thinks_ he's doin' well, but he's only scarin' people."

We reached a tent, which I gathered was his, from the familiar looking tent and arrows sticking out of a nearby tree. "What's going on with this _other group_?" I asked slowly. He looked up from fiddling with his crossbow before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Lots'a shit," he said simply. I waited for him to elaborate, leaning patiently on the tree. He met my eyes again and groaned. "Y'know I don't like explainin'."

"Daryl," I urged, and he just rolled his eyes before sitting himself down against the tree.

"Rick, Herschel, and Glenn- the Asian kid," he explained quickly, looking up at me, to which I nodded, "- they went into the town 'nd ran into some guys there 'nd they was shootin' at them. Ended up leavin' this one kid behind, Randal. Took him in 'cause he was injured, but had to give him a beatin' for him to talk," he went on. That was the explanation to his bloody knuckles. Of course Daryl'd be the one doing the questioning, the man could go days beating a man without killing him.

"I'm guessin' what you got outta him wasn't exactly good news," I sighed, looking towards the camp. He let out a huff and stood back up to go in his tent. I frowned at the side of it, wondering if he'd even come out afterwards. Though after a few minutes, he reappeared with a map in his hands.

"Ya can't tell no one this, alright?" he mumbled, looking towards where the group was now probably cooking dinner. I nodded quickly and looked down at the map and saw a few circles. My heart fell into my stomach and I got really dizzy. "Got the last few places he knows they been. All of 'em aren't _dangerously_ close, but at the rate they been movin', they'll find the farm eventually." He was silent for a few seconds, then folded up the map and gave me one of the grimmest looks he'd ever given me, my eyes wide with realization. "These people, they ain't good. They got heavy artillery, big numbers, 'nd the women they do come across, they-"

"They make sure they don't wanna be alive, I know," I spilled, though bit my lip and mentally kicked myself. His gaze hardened and he put a hand on my shoulder to look right at me. I sighed and nodded very slowly, worried that the Daryl I knew would go away and be replaced with the Daryl everyone else knew. "I know them."

* * *

**_AN: _**_I'm not sure how often I'm supposed to update, but I think I'm doing okay, so a short chapter's fine, right? I hope it is. (I say this **before** I check the word count and it's actually my longest chapter. Logic.)_

_So yeah, cool, Salem has connections that the others probably don't want her to have. Sweet. Awesome. Also Carol is gone. I really want her to live in the show, more than the average person wants her to live._


	7. Chapter 7

It'd been days since I left the brothers. Maybe five or six. I'd made it to the closest town, and was now hiding out in a little coffee shop or something. So many of the useful things had been taken already, so I was making use of a metal pail I'd found and a small fire I'd made on the tile floor to make some tea. It was odd, considering I was all alone during the apocalypse making_ tea, _but it never failed to calm me down. It gave me the feeling that I could relax a bit. Finally unwind in this seemingly safe home. _The last time I thought a home was safe, a mother and a daughter were killed._

It _was_ safe, until I heard the knocking. I froze and only pulled the mug tighter to me, curling up behind the kitchen counter. _But that wasn't the _dead _knocking_.

"Y'alive in there?" I heard, and jumped at the sound of a voice. I hadn't even heard my own since the last night with the Dixons. "Hey, I know you're in there, just open up!" they tried again. I stayed silent. "Listen, I ain't armed and there's a ton'a biter's out here, you gotta let me in!" The voice was young and pleading. I really didn't want to let him in, but the more desperate his knocking and calling became, the less I was willing to let this kid die. So I groaned and sat my mug on the counter, raising my pistol to the door before unlocking it. He all but stumbled into me, having been leaning on the door. "Oh, man, thank you!" he cried, but I quickly hushed him and shut the door. "There was so many out there, you probably saw 'em, I though I-"

"Would you be quiet, they'll hear you!" I hissed, and he immediately shut up. He kind of slinked back into the coffee shop as I stood by the door, listening carefully for any of the groans. I risked a look outside, and sure enough, there were about a dozen, though they'd forgotten about the boy, and were now mindlessly stalking around the small town. I quickly turned on him and pointed my gun, an action that made his hands fly up in surrender. "Where you from, kid?" I asked, looking him over. He was no more than twenty years old. Hell, he didn't even look over _seventeen_. And he was shaky, too. A nervous little guy. "You can't tell me you was alone with no weapons."

"Okay, I lied. I have a gun, but-" he paused and quickly reached for his belt, which made me flinch and _almost_ shoot. "Whoa, I'm just..." he trailed off and slowly took his gun from its holder to place it on the table. There was a split second where I let my aim falter, then there was a quick movement and a loud bang before pain shot through my leg. I yelped and fell to the ground, my gun coming down with me. He looked down at me with a smirk, and with a boot to the head, I was knocked out.

* * *

Daryl's entire body tensed and his face got even scarier. I swallowed hard and prepared myself for whatever he was going to do. I was completely expecting him to hound me for it, to become suspicious of me and treat me the way he'd treated Randal. He stared me down for what seemed like forever and I could almost hear his mind tinkering away_. _"Ya _know_ 'em?" he growled. I held my breath and nodded, though his glare only grew narrower.

"Trust me, Daryl. I never wanted to be with 'em," I said quietly, eyeing the group from a distance.

"Whadda ya mean _never wanted to_, ya jus' said ya knew 'em!" he hissed. I swallowed hard and shivered, finding it hard to look my friend in the eye. I think it was the way I shrunk into myself that made him sort of back off, though that look of suspicion was still in his eyes. _We lived in a small world, now. Their new problem was one I thought I'd escaped._ I shivered again as memories rushed through my mind, and my knees became weak. That's when Daryl's face softened. "I get it," he mumbled, every hint of scrutiny gone in his being. He nodded to himself, then looked back to me with a kinder look on his face. "Know anything we don't?"

I was thankful he was trying to change the subject, so I smiled faintly. "Their leader's a nutjob," I said bluntly, and he only chuckled once. "There are lots of things Randal never told you, Daryl. _Lots_ of things."

* * *

I woke up with the smell of campfire around me. The sound of men laughing echoed to my right, though stopped when I made my consciousness known. A voice announced that _she_ had waken up, and I took it that the _she_ was me. I hadn't opened my eyes until then. I was laying on a long couch, a heavy blanket draped over top of me. I blinked against the brightness of my surroundings and I concluded that it was then daytime, and then a figure stood above me. I looked up at him and he smiled, a seemingly genuine smile.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said, almost father-like. "You slept in surprisingly late, we've been making quite a, er-" he peeked over his shoulder at a group, who started cackling, "-racket. How are you feeling?" Something about him calmed me, though another part of him sickened me. I didn't know what part of myself to believe, so I went along with him.

"Tired," I grumbled, feeling honestly exhausted. I hadn't noticed the throbbing pain in my head and leg until then, which reminded me of how I got here. I sat up quickly - too quickly - and made myself dizzy, and a shot of pain went up my leg which made me wince, but continued to search around the room to see if any face was familiar. "How the _fuck _did I get here?" I growled, now looking for a weapon.

"No need t'swear," he sighed, sitting down beside me. I eyed him carefully. He wasn't _bad_ looking, I'll be honest. He was kinda cute, actually. "I know you and Randal didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but the boy felt threatened," he explained. He had a high and mighty tone to his voice, kind of sophisticated, though a heavy accent covered his voice. Something foreign.

"He shot me in the _leg_," I scoffed.

"And I'm sorry for that. We don't usually do that when we find a woman," he said, and again, the group started howling. It was then I started to observe the group. I couldn't see any women _anywhere, _and it seemed like it was only men sitting at a picnic table across what seemed like a backyard. "We only try to help. We noticed a large amount of biters around your area and thought we'd come get you," he continued. "Randal is new to runs, he doesn't know what it's like to have a scared lady on his hands. I'm sure you weren't going to shoot him." I only glared at him, but he smiled warmly.

"Okay," I said slowly, "so you saved me outta the good of your hearts?" I made myself sound skeptical, and the look he gave me told me he picked up my doubt. I really was skeptical, though. The only reason I went along with Daryl and Merle was because I _knew_ them, and I had already trusted them. This Randal kid _knocked me out_ and took me against my will. "I don't see why he had to knock me out to get me over here."

"Like I said, the boy was nervous. I'll have to talk to him," he sighed. "Though we have other matters to discuss," he turned to me, his expression suddenly dark and dangerous, "we don't allow women to stay like we do men."

* * *

"Tell me everything," he commanded in an urgent tone. I watched as my friend paced a little, his eyes flicking from me to the shed beside a large barn. I swallowed hard and looked at the ground, unsure even where to start.

"They're bad men, Daryl," I mumbled. He made a noise that I had classified long ago that he _knew_ that already. He _knew_ they were bad people, he just didn't know the extent of it yet. _And here I was thinking I had lost them._ "They don't take to women nicely."

"Th'boy said they had women 'nd children," Daryl muttered, quitting the pacing get-up and actually standing to give me another suspicious look, though I was sure it wasn't directed at _me._ "I tol' the group there was none, but that was-" he paused, then lets out a sigh. "Wouldn't'a believed you wasn't with 'em if I _did_ tell 'em." I smiled at this.He'd be the only one in this group to believe I wasn't part of that group; he trusted me more than he trusted Randal. Hell, I didn't blame him. _No_body could trust Randal, not even his own friends._  
_

"The fact they got 'em is bullshit,' I shrugged. "They brought in families, make 'em feel _secure, _if you could call it that. The women they came across, they'd eventually rape then kill, 'nd the children..." I sighed, then shrugged. Just telling him about what they did to other people made me sick. "Kids were _too much of a liability- _their words, not mine. They'd kill the children right in front of their parents, tie up the dad if there was one then make 'im watch as they-" I cut myself off and shook my head. "Never even killed the man afterwards either." I could see him grinding his teeth, nodding as I spoke.

"Yeah. Randal tol' me a story 'bout an old man and his daughters out in th'woods," he sighed. I tense and nodded. _I'd heard of that around camp. _"Salem, they _hurt _y-"

"Hey, you guys gonna eat or what?" a voice called from a distance. I looked up and saw Glenn walking towards us. "Dinner's been ready for a good five minutes, figured you guys'd smelled it," he said once he reached us.

"Thanks for getting us," I smiled, and he gave me a shy smile back, then turned to Daryl.

"Rick wants to talk to you after," he said, and then turned around and walked away.

"How old is he?" I asked once he was far enough away. He gave me a look and I shrugged, making him sigh.

"He's young. Maybe, I'unno, twenty-three, twenty-four?" he shrugged, then eyed me. "Don't even think about it, he's had eyes on Maggie since the day we got 'ere," he smirked, which made me roll my eyes. "_Way_ too young for you."

"_Excuse_ me!?" I gasped in mock shock. He chuckled and I swatted at his arm. "I'm twenty-seven, asshole." He jerked his head in the direction of the group to get us walking.

"I forget. Ya hang around with me 'nd Merle. I'm, what, five years older than ya?" he sighed. I patted him on the shoulder and laughed.

"You're gettin' to be an old man, Daryl Dixon," I smiled, and he rolled his eyes. I liked being able to joke around with him. After being alone for so long, I'd like to joke around with _anyone_, but I was lucky enough to have Daryl around again.

* * *

I really didn't want to be there. I didn't like groups, and now they were forcing me to _"work"_ to allow me to stay. I didn't _want_ to stay in the first place. After a few days, I learned there were, in fact, other women. One I walked by while heading to my tent gave me a wide eyed look. She opened her mouth to say something, though a grunt from the man beside me closed her mouth and she was scurrying off again. It was odd, but understandable. The guy that was escorting me over wasn't exactly kind looking.

"Ya not t'leave ya tent unless s'emergency. If ya gotta piss, tell one'a us," he grumbled, watching as I crawled into the tent they'd given me. It smelled, but then again, everything smelled. It was the stench of _death._ Of rotting and blood. I would've hurled if I wasn't so damn used to the stink.

The man left me, and after awhile, the men laughing by the fire could be heard. I let out a long sigh and decided to look on the bright side. That's what Merle'd do. If we were in a bad spot, Merle'd pipe up and say something that would get someone in a better mood. Daryl was the same, but he tended to keep his optimism to himself, and if he did share, he'd make sure he sounded grumpy enough, like he was doing us a _favour_ by looking on the bright side.

I had this new camp, _no matter how much I didn't want to be there_. I figured they'd keep me fed. Keep me safe and I wouldn't have to be lonely anymore. The group members seemed a little weird, but wasn't everyone weird in this new world? Plus, I didn't have to worry about finding a safe enough place to stay. We were situated in a large fenced in backyard, a large two-story house at the front. The fence was sturdy, made of dark wood and built quite tall. And on top of that, they had station guards. The single tree in the yard had a decent sized treehouse, and I saw a man up there with a sniper.

It really saddened me. It was a god damn _treehouse; _something children dream of having in their yard- this was once a child's play place. A damn child lived here once. And these men were using the kid's hideout as a watch tower. All the innocence in the world was gone, anyways; why not use one of the most innocent things from the old world and put a prison guard in there?

I slept restlessly that night. I kept hearing screams, and though I was used to hearing the sad cries of yet another victim, I couldn't help but to shudder. Monsters were snatching these people up and _murdering_ them. If that wasn't unsettling, I didn't know what was. The screaming stopped, and soon after was replaced by sobbing. Not everyone could deal with hearing that, I guess. It got to me at the beginning, too.

* * *

**_AN: _**_This feels rushed. I know it's not a small chapter, but it feels like I rushed a lot of it. But at least I got a lot across. I hope. Yay._

_As usual, I'm open to reviews. Thanks c: !_


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